Secrets in the Dark
by WithinTheStars358
Summary: Margaret is left suspicious after the disappearance of her father, sister, and sister's fiancé, but no one in her home town will take her seriously. She's almost given up hope- but when she finds connections to their disappearances in Toronto, and meets a Constable in need of some help... a plan merges. Now she is more desperate than ever to find the truth, no matter the cost.


2 hours.

2 hours of sitting on a train and waiting to arrive in the city, and already it felt like an eternity.

She tried and failed to pass the time reading, for she could only stay focused for a minute or two at most. She tried to get some sleep, but the anger, disbelief, and as much as she hated to admit it- fear, running through her beat the tiredness. So there was nothing to do but sit on the edge of her seat and wait, watching out the window as the world transformed around her.

How long had she known this was coming? Maybe an hour? Margaret sighed as she thought back on the day, on the past two weeks. If only she could go back…

Suddenly the train began slowing down, bringing Margaret back to reality, and sending her forwards and almost out of her seat. After she successfully regained her balance she looked outside.

I'm here.

Jumping to her feet, Margaret grabbed the one bag of belongings she had time to pack and dashed through the train with the others. By the time she was on still ground, thousands of thoughts rushed into her head all at once.

The city must have been huge if the amount of people in the station was any indication. People bustling about all around her, moving with purpose and not paying any attention to the young woman. Suddenly the amount of people there wasn't just strange compared to what she was used to but also terrifying. In the entire city of Toronto, she knew no one.

Well, technically that wasn't true. She knew of the Deckers, the relatives that she would be living with until, well, she didn't know. She had never met them before, and had no idea what to expect. Suddenly worries filled her head. What if they were terrible, what if they were cruel and cold like her mother? What would she-

"Oh!" Margaret gasped as she was pushed forwards by someone behind her, and she realized how strange she must have looked staring off into space in the middle of a busy crowd. She felt her cheeks warm with slight embarrassment, but she just continued walking until she found a set of doors. When Margaret was outside she could really see the city around her, and it was, well… not like her home in Ohio, that was for sure.

On any other day the city would have excited her, made her want to drop her bags and explore every inch of the place until she had seen everything there was to see. But this wasn't some adventure she may have have one day had with her sisters. This was the beginning of a new chapter in her life, and one she wasn't particularly looking forward to reading.

Margaret made her way to a quieter place and looked around. While she was in Toronto she would be living with her father's cousin, Susan Decker, her husband, and three daughters. Beyond this vague information, Margaret realized she had no direct way to find them. However she supposed the only way to find them would be to start looking, so she took a deep breath and walked back out into the chaos of the crowds.

While looking for a middle aged lady who may look like her father, and possibly have three girls with her, Margaret started to feel anger coursing inside of her. Who would do this to their own daughter?

"Excuse me," Margaret heard faintly in the background. She was almost sure the woman wasn't referring to her, but when she turned around there was a woman standing behind her.

"Yes?" Margaret said, happy her voice was stronger than she thought it would be.

"Are you Margaret McKenzie?" The woman asked, and Margaret wasn't sure if she should be thrilled or devastated. She found Susan. She was going to live in Toronto.

"Yes," she said, after only a moments hesitation.

"Oh! It's so nice to meet you, dear!" The woman exclaimed and brought Margaret into a hug.

Surprised, Margaret stumbled forwards, and awkwardly hugged the woman back. How long had they known each other? Maybe a minute, and she was embracing her like she was an old friend.

Before today, did she even remember the last time her mother hugged her?

"How did you know I was Margaret?" She asked, suddenly feeling paranoid as a memory from a few weeks ago tugged the corner of her mind.

"Not many young ladies like you traveling by yourself, and you just looked so much like your father… I'm so sorry dear. He was a good man, and your sister… I can't imagine what you must be going through," she said, her eyes looked glassy for a minute, and Margaret looked down.

She couldn't count the number of times she was given that look from everyone back home. The way they started treating her as if she were made of glass. It drove her mad, just like when strangers would come up to her and start talking about her father as if they knew him better then she did. But she had to remind herself this woman was no stranger to her father. Margaret's paranoia left her, supposing this woman was who she said she was.

Margaret grew up hearing how much she looked like her father, and it was true. She had inherited her father's brown hair and eyes, his nose, his smile. She looked nothing like her mother, with her icy blonde hair and blue eyes, and her too sharp face.

Margaret's sisters looked like him too, and if it weren't for their obvious age differences they could have passed off as triplets. Margaret smiled faintly to herself at the memory of her sisters; Elizabeth, the youngest, and Caroline, the oldest.

Elizabeth, Margaret, and Caroline.

Lizzy, Maggie, and Carrie, as they used to call each other.

Inseparable.

"Why don't we get going, I'm sure you'll want to see the house and your new room. My girl's are at home, but don't worry, they'll be excited to meet you." Susan said, giving her a reassuring smile.

"Thank you so much, Mrs. Decker," Margaret said. No matter how much she didn't want to be here, she knew this woman had nothing to do with it. And… there were worse people in the world who could have taken her in.

"Oh don't be silly, just call me Susan." She said, and led Margaret away from the station.

Margaret tried to picture Susan next to her father, trying to find any similarities between the two. Sure her hair had a hint of red in it, and her eyes were green, but they had the same face, the same warmth surrounding them. Margaret didn't know how much she missed that until then. She imagined her father and Susan playing together as young children, but it was hard. It was so strange thinking she shared blood with someone she just met, yet that someone probably grew up with the person who raised her.

Along the way Susan chatted, and Margaret, who was normally a talker, found herself enjoying the woman's company. She was slowly starting to feel like herself, despite the morning's events.

"Here we are," Susan said as she brought Margaret up to a small, cozy house. The Decker's didn't live in the heart of the city, and owned a home on a quieter street. As they walked up the front yard Margaret noticed the gardens full of beautiful flowers and plants.

Lizzie would have loved this, she thought to herself.

"Girls!" Susan called when they got inside, and the three sisters entered. Seeing them together reminded Margaret of how her and her sisters once were.

"Girls, this is Margaret McKenzie. She's going to be staying with us for the next little while. Margaret, these are my daughter; Sarah, Maude, and Emma."

X X X

To Margaret's relief, all of the girls and their father seemed to be as nice as Susan was to Margaret when they first met. It was strange thinking she was related to these people, but it was comforting being around her father's side of the family.

When she awoke she learned the girls were all gone to school, it was just her and a Susan. Margaret was eighteen and supposed to be completing her last year of school, but she had been an excellent student back home and graduated a year early.

After breakfast Margaret left the house and decided that if she were to live in the city, she might as well know her way around. So she left, and she walked. Just started walking with no destination in mind, until she started recognizing important street names and landmarks in the small portion of Toronto she found herself in.

When her feet started getting tired she decided it was time to stop for lunch. She stopped at Maisy's and was sitting, waiting for her food, when her eyes caught on something- someone, in the kitchen. Her heart skipped a beat, could it be possible? The man's eyes locked with her's for less than a second, and she gasped. The door closed before she could get another look but she didn't need it. She knew who it was. She knew it was Isaac.

His face looked thinner than the last time she saw it, and it was not as clean shaven as she remembered, but it was him. Why was he in Toronto working in a kitchen when everyone in the town he grew up in thought he was dead?

"Miss?" The lady standing with her food said to her, and she realized she had been so focused on Isaac she hadn't noticed her approaching.

"Yes?" Margaret said, still distracted with one eye looking at the door.

"This is yours, enjoy," she said as she passed the food to Margaret, she was about to walk away when Margaret yelled,

"Wait!" The waitress stopped, "Do you know anyone by the name of Isaac Henson?" She asked, not caring that the girl gave her a strange look.

"I'm sorry, but no. Have a good day," she said, and gave Margaret a tight smile as she walked away.

No, it was him! Why was he using a different name, why was he hiding? She needed to get back there, but she knew she wouldn't be allowed to just waltz in for no reason. A plan slowly formed in her mind, and while she wasn't particularly happy about it, it was a plan…

She took a bite of her food and tried her best to make a disgusted face.

"Excuse me?" She called to the same girl, who looked less then pleased to have to deal with her again.

"Yes?"

"I'm sorry, this is cold." She said, looking at the meal in front of her, all the while her heart was beating faster and faster in her chest.

"Well, I can just take that back and get it replaced for you," She said and reached down to take the plate.

No, she needed to go back there.

"Well don't warm up this, it tasted horrible! I want something else," She exclaimed.

"Well this was our lunch special, so if you want something new you will have to pay for it," she said impatiently.

"This is what you call a lunch special?" Margaret asked with a little laugh in her tone.

"Yes," she sighed, "is there a problem, with what that?"

"Indeed! I would like to talk with your chef," Margaret announced and stood up, walking towards the kitchen doors.

She could here the waitress yelling at her to stop but Margaret just picked up her pace. There she was, less then ten steps away! Ten, nine, eight-

Suddenly a man came out with three full plates of food, but they were both moving too fast to avoid each other. They crashed into each other, and Margaret gasped as hot potatoes and gravy splattered across herself and the other man.

Margaret tried getting up, confident she just needed to get through those doors, when she felt someone stop her from behind. She turned around to see a Constable with bright red hair standing there.

"Miss, I am ConstableThomas Brackenreid, and I'm going to have to ask you to come down to the station with me."


End file.
